SCALE REFERENCE

D Altered

D – E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7

Every tension a dominant chord can take — b9, #9, b5 and #5. The go-to scale over an altered dominant resolving to a minor chord. The 7th mode of melodic minor.

Notes & degrees
D1E♭b2Fb3G♭b4A♭b5B♭b6Cb7
NotesD, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C
StepsH – W – H – W – W – W – W (W = whole, H = half)
Also calledSuper Locrian, Diminished Whole Tone
Piano
DFCE♭G♭A♭B♭
Guitar & ukulele — every position (frets 0–12)
357912eFG♭A♭B♭CDE♭BCDE♭FG♭A♭B♭GA♭B♭CDE♭FG♭DDE♭FG♭A♭B♭CDAB♭CDE♭FG♭A♭EFG♭A♭B♭CDE♭

Root notes are red. The full map of the scale on the guitar neck; the common box patterns are groups of these notes.

357912AB♭CDE♭FG♭A♭EFG♭A♭B♭CDE♭CCDE♭FG♭A♭B♭CGA♭B♭CDE♭FG♭

The same scale on a ukulele in standard G–C–E–A tuning.

Chords in the key
DegreeTriad7th chord
i°DdimDm7♭5
♭iiE♭mE♭m(maj7)
♭iiiFmFm7
♭IV+G♭augG♭maj7♯5
♭VA♭A♭7
♭VIB♭B♭7
♭vii°CdimCm7♭5

These are the chords built by stacking scale notes in thirds. Click through for each chord's own diagrams:

i°Ddim♭iiE♭m♭iiiFm♭IV+G♭aug♭VA♭♭VIB♭♭vii°Cdim
Other scales on D

Core scales & modes

D MajorD Natural MinorD Harmonic MinorD Melodic MinorD DorianD PhrygianD LydianD MixolydianD Locrian

Pentatonic & blues

D Major PentatonicD Minor PentatonicD BluesD Major Blues

Jazz & altered

D Harmonic MajorD Phrygian DominantD Lydian DominantD Bebop Dominant

Symmetric

D Whole ToneD Diminished (Whole–Half)D Diminished (Half–Whole)D Augmented Scale

World & exotic

D Hungarian MinorD Double Harmonic MajorD Neapolitan Minor
Altered on another root
CC♯DD♯EFF♯GG♯AA♯B
Keep exploring

See the diatonic chords with audio in the Scale & Chord Finder, find where a key sits among the others on the Circle of Fifths, or start the free Cloud Atelier music guides.